Police ready to arrest officials, lawmakers involved in pork scam

By: Julliane Love De Jesus - 10 years ago

MANILA, Philippines—Anytime the warrants of arrest against the government officials and lawmakers involved in the P10-billion pork barrel scam would be issued by the court, the police are ready to take action.

Taking the lead in hunting down and serving arrest warrants to pork barrel scam suspects, the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) of the Philippine National Police ‎(PNP) have prepared its units after “months of planning.”

“We are preparing a contingency plan for the impending issuance of warrants of arrest,” Police Director Benjamin Magalong, PNP CIDG chief, told reporters in an interview on Tuesday.

“We have to be always prepared. It is a part of our responsibility to anticipate (arrests like these),” he added.

Among those implicated in the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) scam purportedly masterminded by detained businesswoman Janet Lim-Napoles are senators Juan Ponce Enrile, Jinggoy Estrada and Ramon Revilla Jr.

In an earlier briefing, Chief Superintendent Reuben Theodore Sindac, PNP Public Information Chief, said the PNP has made its facilities readily available for high-profile detainees.

Sindac, however, refused to drop the names of the detainees.

Magalong also assured that the CIDG’s preparation is merely “a part of enforcing the law.”

Stressing there is no politics involved in the anticipation of the arrests, he said: “There are no lies here, no deception. We are not deceiving you.”